I came to the same conclusion about having balls in items. I still like trying to make it work fully printed, but for stuff that I sell directly to customers are working out better installing it myself.

These prints look very slick. Are they exactly the way they came from SW, or have you polished them?

Lincoln
www.Craftosterone.com

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Why don't you try to insert some of those " Reuleaux Triangles" instead of spheres? The faceted surfaces of these shapes would add some flash and even more mystery.

Interersting idea! But the problem might be that such objects wouldn't smoothly roll along a track of wires, although maybe this is the point. If you put them on a flat surface and put a plate on top of them, they always have the same width, just like spheres. But if you tried to roll them down a gutter they would have to bounce around because there would be two points of contact on the sides rather than top and bottom.

How do you get the ball in there if it is not made as part of the object? I assume you have to force it in there?

Yeah, i guess they would sort of roll along their edges not their surfaces? Might not work then. I'm sort of spatially challenged when it comes to visualizing forms in motion. That's why I prefer working with hand & hammers over computers.

-G

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art."
Leonardo da Vinci

Actually, I can't see a problem with using surfaces of constant width like Reuleaux triangles and such. The whole point of a sphere is that it can't escape because it always needs at least space "d" to slip through—and so does any surface of constanr width. The smoothness of rolling doesn't really enter into it, especially since that mostly relates to the height of the center of the object, and nothing is attached to the center.

Why don't you try to insert some of those " Reuleaux Triangles" instead of spheres? The faceted surfaces of these shapes would add some flash and even more mystery.
-G

If it helps, try these out. They are not technically surfaces of constant width, they're just intersections of spheres, but the difference between them and true Meissner bodies ought to be insignificant at this scale. There are 36 in this item.

I don't know your background, so I don't know if you have a lot of experience selling jewelry or not.

I have been designing and selling jewelry for some time, and have found that people generally don't like buying a piece that requires any thing that isn't included. Even a lack of chain can, in many cases, kill sales. So since yours needs both the chain and the balls, my guess is that that is the reason for a lack of sales.

Another possibility is that people don't like to wait. So it's possible when they go to order it and realize that it could be a month before they get it, they give up.

Sadly, I don't have an easy solution for you since, obviously you can't include that stuff via shapeways. You could however get a bunch made, buy a bunch of chains, and bearings, put them together along with a gift box, and then sell them yourself.

You could put a link to your own site that sells them on your youtube page. Of course then you need to lay out a bunch of money, and keep stock as well as mail them out yourself. So, it is a lot more work.

Lincoln
www.craftosterone.com

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Carrying stock is something I am trying to steer away from, but it is looking like I must go that way to succeed!

@virtox, the long & elaborate youtube description is for matching the keywords for advertising revenue purposes - I have added the short "Info and purchasing: http://shpws.me/D6g" so that it is the only thing visable before clicking more info

Personally I'd like to see the design shown packed full of the stainless steel balls, and one brightly colored glass ball, like orange. Then you'd have a good reference for movement & rotation of the balls.

Cheers Jeff, funnily enough a YouTube member commented the same but with a yellow ball earlier today. I wear this pendant on a daily basis with a single blue ball (+30 normal steel) and I do get comments about how effective it is.

One thing that always catches my eye whenever I'm browsing is products which are presented with some sort of story.

Doesn't have to be elaborate, but something that paints of picture of the product in the context of everyday life. For example, Paul, what inspired you to make this particular design? You say you wear it often. What have people's reactions to it been?

The inspiration for twin rail came from TerraCotta's One ring to rule the ball - Twin Rail is a take on that but with 6 3 wires that have loads of balls.

When I'm wearing the pendant, people's reaction vary from wtf to wow, where can I get one... but sadly as yet no one has walked up to me and said I've seen that on the internet as happened with one of my LEGO creations at an exhibition a few years ago.

Paul

[edit] call it what you want... maybe cynical, but, what kind of story need to be attached to a product? Surely, it is what it is, how do stories affect sales?

@stop4stuff Certainly no one would want you to fib. Don't stress it if you don't have the perfect "story" to tell about this particular design. I just wonder if there's some written way to share what you think is so awesome about it, which helps others to understand why they NEED to get their hands on it.

I guess TerraCotta's description (from your link above) is about as good as they get - perhaps you can take inspiration from that as well. There's no fibbing there, just a little story and a great description of the product. Do you think it may be worth the $$ to hire a copywriter to put a description together for you?

Inspired by the well known mobius strip (discovered by August Ferdinand Möbius in 1858), an interest in the unusual, and 3D modelling, I created the Twin Rail mobius pendant.

A half shell and 3 rails form a bearing-like structure to encapsulate a train of 6mm balls in a mind-warping cage with a twisting, fascinating movement bringing to life the only pendent of its kind in the world.

Includes a 4mm loop for attaching to a necklace or leather cord.

See the photographs with retro-fitted 31 6mm chrome steel ball bearings... in the bottom photo, the balls have been heated until they 'blue'... check out the video to see how they move by clicking on the little icon below the camera above.

Meaning, it is a delusion to think that anything a person does is completely without influence or inspiration. How a person interprets, employs and expresses these messages will always separate the wheat from the chaff.

-G

[Updated on: Tue, 15 November 2011 17:47 UTC]

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art."
Leonardo da Vinci